Thursday, November 28, 2013

Easy Curried Kabocha Squash Soup

When I heard first heard the word Kabocha, I wasn't sure if it was a drink or a squash or a Star Wars character. Or maybe it was all the above.

(Side note: I later learned Kombucha was a fermented drink. My sister was raving about her home-brewed Kombucha and the scoby that she used to ferment the drink. This last time I visited her I witnessed the scoby for myself. It is frightening. I love fermented foods but this was...different.)

Once, at the Senior's Cooking Club that I lead, someone brought in a green-skinned Kabocha squash to cook with. I had no idea what to do with it. I quickly grabbed my phone and googled Kabocha. I found out the peel was edible, so we simply sliced it thin and roasted it with olive oil, salt and pepper and it was a delicious side dish.

Then, more recently, I went to get some squash from some farmers I know and they told me that I should grab the Kabocha instead of the standard Butternut squash. They said the flavour was really amazing.

It is so true. This little green Japanese pumpkin is so sweet and makes the most delicious soup!

This soup has been adapted from various soups I found online to make a very simple soup that has amazing depth of character for having only four main ingredients.

I recommend finding this squash and making this soup. If you can't, then use any winter squash you can get your hands on- but it is worth trying to find the kabocha!

Easy Curried Kabocha Soup

You can use any winter squash for this soup. You can adjust the curry to your preference, but make sure you add some to roast with the squash to give it more depth of flavour.

1 medium kabocha squash

1 medium onion

butter or coconut oil

approx. 1 tbsp curry powder

6-8 cups vegetable broth

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cut kabocha squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds. (If this is a challenge, you can microwave it for a few minutes before proceeding.)

3. Cut onion in half.

4. Place each half of squash on cooking sheet. Place half an onion on each half of the squash.

5. Drizzle with up to 1 tbsp butter or coconut oil on each side. Then sprinkle with 1-2 tsp curry powder on each side. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 1 hour or until squash is tender.

6. Let cool for a few minutes, then scoop flesh and onion into blender, add 6 cups vegetable broth and puree until mostly smooth. Alternately, place into soup pot and add broth and puree with hand blender.

7. Add more broth and adjust seasoning to taste (add more salt, pepper and curry if necessary). Make it the consistency that you desire by adding more or less broth than stated.